A quick spoiler warning here - while I’m not going to give the
whole plot away this week, I am going to spoil the heck out of one
particular plot point from Phir Milenge.
Here at the Gorilla’s Lament offices, we often refer to “Bollywood Mystery Disease”; symptoms include blindness, deafness, muteness, infertility, comas, amnesia, and the sort of heart trouble that will kill you if you get a sudden shock, but won’t kill you if you run five miles through the streets of New York City followed by an energetic dance routine. The only known cure for BMD is trying hard enough; in Bollywood, any ailment up to and including death can be overcome through force of will if the patient is given sufficient motivation. You should never turn to a Bollywood film for medical information . . . unless that film is Phir Milenge (2004). (And even then you’re better off consulting a doctor.)
Tamanna Sahani (Shilpa Shetty) is the creative head at an advertising agency. The agency is very successful, largely due to Tamanna’s hard work and creativity. Because she works so hard, though, Tamanna doesn’t have much time for a social life. Still, she does take two days off of work in order to attend her college reunion when she learns that Rohit (Salman Khan), a musician now living in New York and the man she had a crush on ten years ago, will be attending. Rohit and Tamanna have a . . . passionate reunion, and when it’s time to leave, Rohit writes his phone number on her arm. When she gets home, the first thing she does is take a long hot bath. The second thing she does is desperately try to write down the phone number, but she’s too late; it’s washed off.
Tamanna tries every friend of a friend she can think of, but it’s no good. Rohit can’t be found, so she settles back into her comfortable routine. When her sister Tania (Kamilinee Mukherjee) has an accident, she rushes to her side, and since the hospital requires that patients replace all the blood they’re given, Tamanna is happy to oblige. The hospital runs some routine tests, and Tamanna is shocked to learn that she has the HIV virus.
Tamanna withdraws from the world, and refuses to leave her bed. When her boss comes by to find out what happened, she tells him. And the next day, when she feels ready to return to work, she finds that she has been replaced, and the company gives her a letter of dismissal citing incompetence.
Tamanna decides to fight. After several lawyers turn her down, she goes to Tarun (Abishek Bachchan), who . . . turns her down. She decides to handle the case herself, and after seeing her return to the courthouse again and again, Tarun takes the case. The problem is, as Tarun’s mentor (Nasser) points out, discriminating on the basis of HIV status isn’t illegal in India . . .
Phir Milenge sounds like a disease of the week movie, and let’s be honest - it is a disease of the week movie. We’re presented with a tremendous amount of medical information, and in the end everyone learns a valuable lesson. Despite the educational content, though, it still manages to be a good movie. The script is sometimes very witty, even while it’s being educational. The acting is also very good. Abishek Bachchan has developed into a fine actor; I saw his performance as a petty thug in Yuva the night before watching Phir Milenge, and I’m very impressed with him. After a career full of insubstantial fluff, Shilpa Shetty is a revelation as well. And Mita Vasisht is delightfully nasty as the opposing counsel. The movie is filled with wonderful moments from the leads and supporting cast, as everyone reacts to Tamanna’s condition, and it’s the small moments which make the film.
Astute readers will have noticed the similarities between Phir Milenge and the Jonathan Demme film Philadelphia. There is one key difference, though, and since that difference is the spoiler I promised at the beginning of the review, the spoiler-phobic should turn back now.
Okay, now that they’re out of the way, here’s the spoiler: Tamanna doesn’t die. At the end of the film, she’s still working, and still healthy and happy. This reflects the advancements in HIV treatment, but also makes for a stronger film; Tamanna spends the whole film trying not to be defined by her disease, and to be recognized as a productive member of society, and that is our last impression of her. There’s no miracle cure (she doesn’t recover from HIV by “trying hard enough") but it’s still a victory. As the saying goes, every story ends in death. The trick is knowing when to stop.
Here at the Gorilla’s Lament offices, we often refer to “Bollywood Mystery Disease”; symptoms include blindness, deafness, muteness, infertility, comas, amnesia, and the sort of heart trouble that will kill you if you get a sudden shock, but won’t kill you if you run five miles through the streets of New York City followed by an energetic dance routine. The only known cure for BMD is trying hard enough; in Bollywood, any ailment up to and including death can be overcome through force of will if the patient is given sufficient motivation. You should never turn to a Bollywood film for medical information . . . unless that film is Phir Milenge (2004). (And even then you’re better off consulting a doctor.)
Tamanna Sahani (Shilpa Shetty) is the creative head at an advertising agency. The agency is very successful, largely due to Tamanna’s hard work and creativity. Because she works so hard, though, Tamanna doesn’t have much time for a social life. Still, she does take two days off of work in order to attend her college reunion when she learns that Rohit (Salman Khan), a musician now living in New York and the man she had a crush on ten years ago, will be attending. Rohit and Tamanna have a . . . passionate reunion, and when it’s time to leave, Rohit writes his phone number on her arm. When she gets home, the first thing she does is take a long hot bath. The second thing she does is desperately try to write down the phone number, but she’s too late; it’s washed off.
Tamanna tries every friend of a friend she can think of, but it’s no good. Rohit can’t be found, so she settles back into her comfortable routine. When her sister Tania (Kamilinee Mukherjee) has an accident, she rushes to her side, and since the hospital requires that patients replace all the blood they’re given, Tamanna is happy to oblige. The hospital runs some routine tests, and Tamanna is shocked to learn that she has the HIV virus.
Tamanna withdraws from the world, and refuses to leave her bed. When her boss comes by to find out what happened, she tells him. And the next day, when she feels ready to return to work, she finds that she has been replaced, and the company gives her a letter of dismissal citing incompetence.
Tamanna decides to fight. After several lawyers turn her down, she goes to Tarun (Abishek Bachchan), who . . . turns her down. She decides to handle the case herself, and after seeing her return to the courthouse again and again, Tarun takes the case. The problem is, as Tarun’s mentor (Nasser) points out, discriminating on the basis of HIV status isn’t illegal in India . . .
Phir Milenge sounds like a disease of the week movie, and let’s be honest - it is a disease of the week movie. We’re presented with a tremendous amount of medical information, and in the end everyone learns a valuable lesson. Despite the educational content, though, it still manages to be a good movie. The script is sometimes very witty, even while it’s being educational. The acting is also very good. Abishek Bachchan has developed into a fine actor; I saw his performance as a petty thug in Yuva the night before watching Phir Milenge, and I’m very impressed with him. After a career full of insubstantial fluff, Shilpa Shetty is a revelation as well. And Mita Vasisht is delightfully nasty as the opposing counsel. The movie is filled with wonderful moments from the leads and supporting cast, as everyone reacts to Tamanna’s condition, and it’s the small moments which make the film.
Astute readers will have noticed the similarities between Phir Milenge and the Jonathan Demme film Philadelphia. There is one key difference, though, and since that difference is the spoiler I promised at the beginning of the review, the spoiler-phobic should turn back now.
Okay, now that they’re out of the way, here’s the spoiler: Tamanna doesn’t die. At the end of the film, she’s still working, and still healthy and happy. This reflects the advancements in HIV treatment, but also makes for a stronger film; Tamanna spends the whole film trying not to be defined by her disease, and to be recognized as a productive member of society, and that is our last impression of her. There’s no miracle cure (she doesn’t recover from HIV by “trying hard enough") but it’s still a victory. As the saying goes, every story ends in death. The trick is knowing when to stop.
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